Car shopping has been, to say the least, interesting.

We've test-driven 5 vehicles, although one of those vehicles is our rental car. It's kind of nice to get to check that out and get to discuss it without the salesman right up our behinds. Corey seems to think it's rude to discuss our negative opinions in front of the salesmen. I, personally, do not. However, that may be because I'm getting used to my patients, who often don't feel any aversion at all to saying things like "I hate you people" (meaning card-carrying vampires) while I'm on the job.

We drove the Toyota Avalon. It's a PRETTY car, and nice to drive, and fancy-schmancy - but perhaps too much so. There are things about it that just lend themselves to easy breakage, and after reading consumer reviews, I've discovered that they are actually PRONE to breakage. And it seems that there was something else I didn't like about it. I just can't remember what. But we walked away from it saying, "Eh." And that's not an "Oh my gawd, that was soooooooo awesome!"-eh.

Then we drove the Ford Five Hundred. The only negative thing I have to say about the one we drove was that it has a leather interior. And don't even try it - there's not a chance in hell anyone is going to sell me on the idea that a leather interior in the desert is a good thing. But I very much love the vehicle, and I'm hoping to swing a spiffy deal on it if we finally decide on it.

The next day, we drove a Buick LaCrosse. I found a lot of things I didn't like about it. Corey hit his head on it the first time he got in it. The ass-end is high. The seats are uncomfortable. The steering pulled away whenever I hit a bump - not an issue of alignment, either. It would pull to whichever direction the bump ran. The only good thing I had to say about it was that there was little-to-no highway noise. It was very quiet. The thing I found a little disturbing about it, though, was that they had 3 used 2005 models, all with less than 15,000 miles on them. Why are people bringing so many of them back with such low mileage?

The last vehicle we checked out was the Honda Element. We took it on the standard test drive - up to the hill with the 8% grade. It didn't quite pass that test with flying colors. It handled the curves beautifully, but when we got to that steep grade, I couldn't get it to kick into the granny-gear, even with my foot all the way to the floor. We ate up 1/4 tank just getting up there. My Kia wasn't even that bad! But anyway, we took it back down the hill and to the house, and did the driveway test - to make sure that it has enough clearance to make it in and out of our driveway without bottoming out. Then we took it on the highway, to see how it handled the high speeds. To make a long story short, we almost got run over by an 18-wheeler, I hit the brakes, and nearly spun the Element around. It doesn't seem to handle high speeds and sudden stops well, and that was the final straw. It immediately fell out of the running.

We still have one more car to check out - the Honda Accord. I'm kind of excited about that proposition, because if I like it as much as the Ford - a) it's about $4000 cheaper, and b) it comes in manual shift.

I'm the kind of person who LOVES to drive. For me, driving is fun. It's recreational, and I just really really enjoy it. I want a car that is safe, number one, no doubt about it. But I also want a car that FEELS good to drive. And I love stick-shift, just because it IS more fun to drive a stick. I don't feel like a monkey just stepping on a pedal.

So tomorrow, after I get the kids off to school and get a little sleep, I fully intend to check out the Accord. I hope it's more impressive than the Element!

the last trail...the next path